


Elementary School

by abigailmaedy



Series: Before the Badge- A B99 Prequel [3]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: But they're like ten years old so, Gina and Jake growing up as best friends, Gina growing up, Gina learns how to love herself, Goofy kiddo Jake, Hurt/Comfort, It's not love, Young Jake and Gina, or at least not THAT type of love, pre-Season One, they kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 10:28:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7680829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abigailmaedy/pseuds/abigailmaedy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"You don’t ever need any boy in order to be happy.”<br/>“What about Jake?” She asked. “I love Jake.”<br/>“That’s okay. Jake is your friend. But just promise me you’ll love boys on your own terms.” Darlene wasn’t sure if she was teaching her daughter to be confident or if she was teaching her to put up walls, but either way it was safer than subjecting her to the life she’d lived.<br/>“I don’t know what that means.” Gina said.<br/>Darlene sighed. “I know.” <i></i></i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>You don't just become the human equivalent of the "100" emoji overnight. It takes time. Following Jake and Gina's friendship as little kids through a series of snippets from Gina's elementary school years.</i>
  </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Necessity of Fathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dads are a hard thing not to have and an even harder thing to lose.

       “Gina, let’s talk about your dad.” Darlene had said to her daughter one night. She’d just retrieved her from a playdate at Jake Peralta’s, after working a long shift. Gina had been laughing with Roger Peralta when Darlene had entered and “rescued” the girl from the tickle monster Roger was pretending to be. Jake, a few months older than Gina but an inch or two shorter, had smiled up at Darlene when she entered. 

       “What about Dad?” Gina asked from her place in the back seat, strapped into the booster she was just about too big for. The five year-old’s eyes were wide at the mention of her father, a typically forbidden topic in the Linetti household. Darlene pulled up to a red light and eyed her daughter in the rearview mirror. Street lights illuminated only half of Gina’s face. 

       “Well, you’re going into kindergarten this year.” Darlene said, the light turning green. “And you’re going to see a lot of mommies and daddies dropping off your friends. And I just, I want you to know that no matter what anybody says, you don’t need a daddy to be part of a whole family.” 

       Gina contemplated this, her brows furrowing. “So…” Gina said, “Does everyone else have a daddy?”  

       “No, not everyone. And some people have no mommies. And, some people don’t have either. They have grandparents, or aunts and uncles, or foster parents that take care of them.” Darlene shrugged. “I didn’t have a daddy, either.” 

       “I know, Mama.” She said. “Did having no daddy make you sad?”        

Darlene’s gut twisted as she pulled into their driveway, their home only a few blocks from the Peraltas’. “Sometimes. Does having no daddy make you sad?”        

       “Sometimes.” She whispered. Darlene watched her daughter twist her fingers around themselves. “But it’s okay. Because I have Jake and Jake’s daddy is my friend. He shows me how to draw things and he tells me about football. Is that what daddies are supposed to do?” 

       Darlene sighed. She didn’t like Roger. She knew that he was cheating scum and she was sure one day he’d walk out. “I guess so. But you know, honey, you don’t ever need a daddy to be the right kind of person, okay? You don’t ever need any boy in order to be happy.” 

       “What about Jake?” She asked. “I love Jake.” 

       “That’s okay. Jake is your friend. But just promise me you’ll love boys on your own terms.” Darlene wasn’t sure if she was teaching her daughter to be confident or if she was teaching her to put up walls, but either way it was safer than subjecting her to the life she’d lived.        

       “I don’t know what that means.” Gina said. 

       Darlene sighed. “I know.” 

_______________________________________________ 

       Darlene never brought Gina’s father up again, and on the two occasions that the man himself showed up, he didn’t say more than two words to his daughter, and was gone after Gina’s mother had caved and given him the money he’d been in town to beg for. Gina, who had been hopeful to learn something of importance about the man, or to be recognized by him at the very least, was ashamed to be found crying on her bed the first time he’d left. Darlene had demanded that she stop and that she never let someone make her feel so bad again. She’d told the six year-old that she was a goddess and that she shouldn’t waste her tears, because they were special.

       The next morning, when she woke, her mom had a smoke machine in the kitchen and turned it on for the little girl to prance past to the table, saying she should always start her day embodying the vivacity she wanted to carry with her for her entire life. That was the first time Gina had heard the word “vivacity”, and the first time she realized womanhood was a superpower. When she told Jake what she had learned, he said he’d always known that women were incredible, because why else did he love them so much? He suggested that the most powerful women were his mom and Nana, and Gina couldn’t find a way to disagree. 

       When Gina was seven, she discovered her mother’s makeup collection and after some frustration at her ruined lipstick, Darlene explained that makeup was a type of war paint that women wore to unleash a special kind of beauty. Gina asked if women were beautiful without it, and Darlene said, “Women are always beautiful, Gina.” But Gina still found that she liked makeup the best. She figured, if she could do her makeup just right, she could reveal to everyone what her mother had already convinced her of: that she was  _ the most _ beautiful. Jake agreed to be a test doll and Gina practiced all of her makeup techniques on him. He did the same to her, because it was fun. 

       When Jake’s dad left, he called her. She could remember her mother had said about crying over men, but she’d thought Roger was a different kind of man. She also wondered if it was okay to cry on behalf of her friend. Either way, she decided her tears had best be kept a secret, so she composed herself, left a note for her mom, and snuck the few blocks to her best friend’s, where he waited, sobbing like a mess.  _ This  _ was odd. Jake never cried. Jake pretty much only laughed. Gina remembered her mother telling her once that women could be goddesses  _ and  _ nurturers, and so she laid down with Jake on the couch and snuggled him up close, letting him use most of the blanket even though she was cold, and pretending that she didn’t wake every time he broke into a new fit of sobs. She realized that she didn’t love any other men than Jake, and that he was soft like her. He was special like her, and like her, he would have to learn that you don’t need a daddy to be a whole person in a whole family. Jake wasn’t as good with that lesson. 

 

 


	2. About a boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gina is ten years old, and she's very curious about the phenomenon of kissing. Jake has some experience in that field, which he shares in exchange for some uninterrupted video game time. You know, normal friend stuff.

       Gina was ten when she first developed a crush on a boy. She was afraid to tell her mother, who had, with time, begun to make her feel that men might be evil. She knew that Darlene had boyfriends, and that they hurt her more often than not, but Gina wondered if the way her mother had grown bitter (slowly, and with time), was the same way that men became evil. She wondered if she still had time to love a boy who was a good person. 

       “Are you still friends with Mikey?” Gina asked Jake one day after school. Gina was destroying him at a video game and Jake shrugged. 

       “Yeah. Why?” Jake asked. “Gina! Stop! We’re on the same team!” 

       Gina killed Jake’s character and shrugged. “I think I want to make him my boyfriend.” 

       The game rebooted and Jake made a face. “Why?” 

       “He has dreamy eyes and I want to kiss his face.” Gina shrugged. “I need some pizzazz in my life, you know?”  _ At least, that’s what Cosmo says.         _

       “So why don’t you just ask him?” Jake’s eyes were still glued to the TV.        

       Gina sighed, killing his character again and smirking at the ensuing groan. “I dunno, man. I don’t even know how to kiss.” 

       “Oh, it’s easy.” Jake shrugged.        

       “Wait.” Gina put down the controller and turned to face Jake. “ _ You’ve  _ kissed somebody?”  _ How? What? Where? When?   _ “We’re best friends, Jake! This qualifies under best friend sharing requirements!” Gina threw her arms up in exasperation and Jake’s eyes widened.

       “Geez, I’m sorry! It was Molly from Gym! We just, I don’t know. She said she had a crush on me and then she just kinda did it. Once, or twice, or three times…” Jake trailed off.       

       “Oh my _G_ _ od!  _ You made out with Molly!” Gina’s heart was pounding. This was exhilarating. This was the most exciting thing to happen since Darlene had shown her how to bedazzle her jeans. 

       “And Mazy Bennett... “ Jake muttered. His cheeks reddened and he smiled. “That was fun.” 

       “Are you  _ good  _ at it?” Gina asked, nearly bouncing in her seat. 

       Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess.” 

       “Okay, Jake. Don’t be weird.” Gina said, standing up on the cushion and then bouncing back down onto her bottom. “But I have an idea.” 

       Jake, who had abandoned the video game, rolled his eyes. “Is this going to be like that time you made me model your outfits because we were the same size?” 

       Gina’s shoulders dropped back and she huffed. “No, and I’m still mad at you for growing bigger than me.” She took a breath and Jake’s eyes widened at the same time as she said the word. “Kiss me.” 

       “WHY?!” He shouted incredulously. 

       “So I can get good at it, fool!” Gina shoved his shoulder and he groaned. “When I kiss Mikey, I need to do it with  _ vivacity.”  _

       Jake sighed, staring down at his lap. “Alright,” He shrugged. “That  _ is  _ important to you. But no tongue!” He pointed at Gina, who hadn’t even considered it and whose face pinked at the notion.

       “Okay!” She beamed, sitting cross-legged and facing Jake, who turned towards her. “What do I have to do?” 

       “Nothing.” Jake shrugged. “Just don’t be slobbery and don’t miss.” 

       “That’s it?” Gina raised a brow. “How are sparks supposed to fly if it’s just two people squishing dry lips together?” 

       “It’s just cool feeling, I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers.” Jake nudged closer to Gina, until they were only inches apart, and squeezed his eyes shut before grabbing her face and kissing her without a second thought, their teeth nearly striking and their eyes pinched like they were afraid to have them open. Gina’s hands found Jake’s shoulders and he kissed her again, this time less violently, before pulling away. “That’s it.” He shrugged. 

       Gina was floored. Her face was red, her eyes were alight, and her heart was pounding. She touched her lips with a tentative hand and Jake smirked. “Was I slobbery?” She asked. 

       “Nope, you were fine. Did sparks fly?” Jake returned, leaning against the cushion behind him. 

       Sparks had not, in fact, flown, Gina realized. Jake still just looked like Jake and not any kind of special Prince Charming, and she didn’t have the sudden urge to marry him. But, her belly was warm, and so was her heart, and she would later deny that she was blushing when, twenty years down the road, Jake got drunk enough to bring up the event at Shaw’s. “I don’t think so. What are the sparks supposed to feel like?” 

       Jake shrugged. “You’re the one that mentioned them. Can we go back to the game now?”        

       Gina sighed. “I  _ guess.  _ But will you give me Mikey’s phone number?” 

       Jake nodded, handing Gina her controller and grabbing his own. “Only if you stop killing me when we’re on the same team.” 

  
       “Deal.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehehe. This was funny to write. I like the idea of a young Jake and Gina just kind of gravitating towards each other as middle school nears, which includes all of its emotional ups and downs.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry that I didn't put this up sooner! There's still another piece coming but this was a series of snippets from Gina's upbringing that I just couldn't get out of my head. Please, please, please, be sure to alert me to any errors you see! Thanks!


End file.
